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MAN OF STEEL 6/10
I'll keep it spoiler free ...
First 70 minutes are INCREDIBLY choppy and almost incoherent to be complete honest. the film jumps from 33 year old Kent to child to teen to child to young adult all while telling the story in present time and it all is thrown in such a fast fashion that very little actually breathes.
The 90 minutes are wall to wall action and it certainly nails that in every way possible but the levels of massive destruction is almost overwhelming.
The problem is the first half is just back story and basically "themes" and moments about "choice" and the second half of the film is Superman dealing with General Zod and his army all of which are at Earth and essentially are Superman's' problem fault and his mess to clean up.
There is really no 3 act structure, there are no set ups or pay offs, it all simple plays out INSANELY simple.
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So all the Superman origin stuff are done as flash backs? Interesting.
It opens with Krypton which itself is quiet amazing and then jumps to the open sea where from the trailers you see Clark as a fisherman. Then the sequence in the oil rig occurs and it ends with Clark in the water and off into a flash back of young Clark and then a returns to Clark and then repeats this over and over.
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So all the Superman origin stuff are done as flash backs? Interesting.
It opens with Krypton which itself is quiet amazing and then jumps to the open sea where from the trailers you see Clark as a fisherman. Then the sequence in the oil rig occurs and it ends with Clark in the water and off into a flash back of young Clark and then a returns to Clark and then repeats this over and over.
Well I like this approach over another "lets start from the beginning" origin story which I have no interest in sitting through. To bad he couldn't pull it off.
The scenes in it of themselves are beautiful and some are very touching truth be told. Kostner and Lane do wonderful as Pa and Ma Kent but sadly these scenes aren't given much time breath. Russel Crowe also does damn good as Kal-El but sadly after the opening when he does return again his performance is limited by the "plot restrictions" but over all he certainly pulled off giving his role some weight.
I think I might give it one more watch in IMAX or 3D truth be told.
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Posted: |
Jun 14, 2013 - 4:10 PM
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By: |
Francis
(Member)
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The Green Mile 10/10
Caught this on tv tonight, it must be the 5th or 6th time I've seen the movie (I think I went and saw it at least two times in the theater) and it's such a strong movie with well written characters and such an imaginative story. I have fond memories picking up the volumes in the bookstore and discovering what happened in each one. Darabont really did a great job bringing it all to life and once again the score by Thomas Newman is perfection.
The Call 6,5/10
Finally got around to seeing it; movie starts out strong with Halle Berry as a call operator doing everything she can to help victims of a serial killer. The first hour is edge of your seat, literally a great thrill ride. Then it suddenly looses all credibility and there is no believable payoff or resolution. SPOILER Yes, I was expecting Berry to face the serial killer face to face, how the movie does this by having her go to the crime scene (abandonned!?) and then deciding to take the law into her own hands, it just didn't work and so atypical of her character. Also, what happened to her cop boyfriend? There's no resolution there.. So definitely a good half in this movie but I suspect there was an alternate ending or at least a different route, but the one they ended up with is so banal. The serial killer is creepy and effective. Debney's score is unlike anything I've heard of his, very electronic and ambient and I liked it, it helps to amp up the terror and the suspense. I can't give it a 7 out of 10 simply because of the disappointment with the third act... Otherwise decent attempt.
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It isn't disjointed to you but I felt it was incredibly choppy and moved awfully fast for a film that has a running time of 150 mins [one imagines a 180 min cut will eventually exist] but if you really think about it...
What is the point of Clark working as a cook and as a fisher man during the introduction of the movie...what as the purpose? Why did he leave town? What was he searing for? I mean really think about it because unless he was "testing" himself in a "let me help others but avoid some attention only to you know...NOT" it makes no sense from a logical point.
It also makes it all the more silly that he "happens" to stumble onto listening to those soldiers talk about something that leads him to a Kryptonian ship and this again leads me to ask...how did he fake all the paper properly to fool the US GOVERNMENT?
I also didn't like the jumps in ages and felt like each flashback was just really an excuse for a monologue and I liked the Costner scenes mind you.
Now here is another thing that makes no sense... why did Jonathan have to die in order to teach Clark a lesson and what exactly was that lesson? The some people HAVE TO DIE? The world isn't ready to see his true powers and abilities? That you can't save everyone and must let some die in order to keep your secret safe?
I'm going to move this to the film thread as well.
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Fast Five (2011) -- 7.5/10
- World's Longest Runway
- Everyone Can Fly
- Best Catch Ever!
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Posted: |
Jun 16, 2013 - 10:04 AM
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By: |
TominAtl
(Member)
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Well, after enduring a long, drawn out dread of how Jack Snyders/Christopher Nolan's reboot of Superman was going to be, I will say up right up front that overall it's not a bad film by any stretch of the imagination. That is not to say though it's up to the level of "Iron Man", or "The Dark Knight". While entertaining, it does make one yearn for it to be "more".
When I heard that Jack Snyder was tapped to direct Man of Steel my first reaction one of "what were they thinking?", which was pretty much my thinking when Howard Shore was hired to score LOTR. However, Shore's contribution and artistry was a stroke of genius and helped to make the series as critically and financially successful as it became. I still do not understand the logic in bringing on Snyder who was and is still a relatively unknown quantity. "Dawn of the Dead" was one of the best horror remakes ever and "300" was a successful but superfluous nonsense. "Watchmen" and "Sucker Punch" were dreary, morose and boring pieces of eye candy. "Legend of the Guardians" was again a beautiful to look at animation and was watchable but was still heavy handed and a bit too serious and a bit violent for younger views.
I will get what I did not like out of the way first, starting with the primary use of hand held cameras. For this kind of movie, it was unnecessary and a bit distracting. While it didn't ruin the movie, that along with the high grain in the film stock gave it a more of a cheap feel to it at times. Second, the color palette was too monochrome blue, though not overly saturated thank God. The score is also a missed opportunity and is highly repetitive as hear in the film, particularly the final 3rd. There is no strong melody but more of a motif or theme, however it is certainly not memorable until you've heard it repeated only God knows how many times. Then there is the structure of the film in the form of flashbacks, which for me takes away from an overall emotional punch that could have been much more focused than it became. And lastly, surprisingly, the effects were at times disappointing. I know it is hard to try and show superhero's move blazingly fast and Snyder employed the "Battlestar Galactica" trick of docu style focus on movie objects. That works for non combat scenes but the blurs of fast moving men and women looks cheap. The destruction of buildings and being thrown through towers and businesses all became tiresome and tedious during the last 3rd of the movie. It just goes and goes and goes, like the Energizer Bunny Rabbit. There is almost no end to the mayhem. In other words, the pacing is off for the movie, with the 1st half the strongest and the last half, the so called Pay Off, is the weakest.
Now for the good: Cavill is great as Clark Kent/Superman. The man got his acting chops from starring in several TV shows and films, including the excellent Showtime series "The Tudors". Not to mention he is his one of the best looking men working in movies today. He does add gravitas to the role of Clark, one who feels out of place in this world and is a bit lost. In fact the whole cast is quite good but in particular to me was Kevin Costner playing Jonathan Kent, his earthly father. He keeps telling the Clark he will know when the time is right to reveal himself but constantly had to remind him to keep his "secret" under wraps while growing up. The world is not ready for him yet. He is also involved in the most emotional part of the film, when during a ravaging tornado Jonathon rescues the family dog trapped in their car while on the highway and knows he cannot make back to the overpass in time for safety. Clark is about to run out and save him but Jonathan holds up his hand to keep him back lest he reveals himself to the huddling crowd around, knowing it still wasn't time yet to do so. It really packs an emotional wallop, one that I haven't experienced from a Superman film since Christopher Reeve screams in agony when he didn't make it back in time to save Lois Lane in "Superman: The Movie".
I also liked the way writers David S Goyer and Nolan do not have Clark start out in the world as a reporter at the beginning of the film and how they slyly changed the relationship between Lois Lane, (nicely realized and not overly plucky) and Clark. And I really enjoyed the prologue on Krypton, setting us up for the motivation of General Zod. He is not psychotic(at least at the beginning) but has real reason behind his methods. No he is not a nice man but he is more 3 dimensional than say Terrance Stamps version(which I still love by the way) which was pretty much megalomania.
So given all the hype and hoopla it does fall short of expectations but it is not a bad film. The previews do make it seem a more emotionally involving film but the structure belies that and trips itself up by chopping it up in flashback mode. The first half is much stronger during this time than the noisy, balls to the wall action fest the last half or 3rd fall into. The score is also a disappointment, thematically week and too repetitive near the end, sounding more like noise and thunder than an exciting film score. And it's a shame that much of the mayhem doesn't have an authentic feel to it, even with the use of hand held cameras. "Transformers" showed us how amazingly real CGI can look given the right hands. But "Transformers" were stupid, insipid films, devoid of thought or story. At least "Man of Steel" has its heart in the right place, and it would have been a classic if it only were in the right directors hands.
7/10
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Fast Five (2011) -- 7.5/10
- World's Longest Runway
- Everyone Can Fly
- Best Catch Ever!
I don't remember any of what you're describing. There were no scenes on a runway except when Hobbs and his team are unloading their gear when Hobbs is first introduced. Paul Walker jumped from train to car, wouldn't call it flying necessarily. What catch?
Oh I'm sorry, I was thinking FURIOUS SIX.
FAST FIVE was:
- Indestructible BabyMama
- SAMOAN THOR -- Always Sweating, Always Shinny, Always Flexing
- “I had a life before you knew me” explains and covers EVERYTHING
- You can in fact steer a safe
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A lot of the gags and characters feel like SNL bits but the movie rolls with it and let's be honest, as far as comedies about car salesmen go, this would have to be the best one. 7/10 
